YouthBuild McLean County is one of several Illinois programs that acts as a year round charter school.

September 2012: Three YBMC students featured in State Farm's "26 Second" campaign fighting school drop out.

July 2012: YouthBuild McLean County featured in news story on pantagraph.com... (http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/teens-build-homes-during-summer-jobs-program/article_2c4b90b2-e0ef-11e1-9ac7-001a4bcf887a.html)May 4, 2012: YouthBuild McLean County won the first annual YouthBuild Basketball Tournament, beating out five other YouthBuild programs in the double elimination style tournament.

May 2012: Click on the below video to see PBS's coverage of YB McLean County, which could possibly lead to a spot on Lebron James's "26 Second Series" commercials.2011: Normal’s YouthBuild program has been anything but lately. Over the last year, the organization has placed a special emphasis on community service, which helps supplement students’ service hours usually dedicated to construction. Students and staff have already completed ten projects this year–and they’ve done a little bit of everything. To name a few: a blood drive at the YB McLean County training center, bell-ringing for the Salvation Army, leaf-raking for the American Red Cross, and tree stand building for The Baby Fold Festival of Trees. YB McLean County has supported the four-day festival, in which shoppers place bids on intricately decorated trees and other Christmas products, for several years and hopes to continue their partnership in the years to come.For Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, YBMC screened a documentary about Genocide victims in Rwanda to raise money for Rwandans who have lost their homes.